Articles Posted inRobbery

In most cases involving negligent security, a resident of a building or patron of a business brings suit against a party for negligently failing to provide adequate security under particular circumstances. However, in a recent case, Fagg v. United States, the court addressed a more peculiar situation involving a contracted worker who brought suit alleging that a post office in suburban Atlanta failed to provide sufficient security and, as a result, caused him to be attacked while making a delivery.

Fagg arose from a robbery at a post office in Conley, Georgia that occurred on December 20, 2013. The plaintiff is an employee of Davosa Transport Service Trucking Company, which is contracted by the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) to transport mail. The plaintiff alleged that on December 20, 2013, he arrived at the post office to retrieve mail, and when he exited the truck in order to load it, two assailants confronted him. During the course of the robbery, the plaintiff was shot. The plaintiff alleged that this was not the first robbery at this particular post office and that as a result of prior armed robberies at this site, there was a policy requiring armed guards to accompany mail transporters at this post office. Nevertheless, the plaintiff alleged that the policy was halted shortly before his armed robbery. The plaintiff then brought suit against the government, asserting claims for negligence predicated on the post office’s failure to provide adequate security. The government moved to dismiss, arguing that the plaintiff’s claims were barred by sovereign immunity.